Topic Archives: Goose Island Bourbon County Brand

Editor’s Note: Goose Island Bourbon County Horchata turned out to be a fake label released by the brewery prior to the announcement. According to Goose Island, it’s not real.

Pastry stouts – i.e. stouts with dessert-like additions like vanilla beans or chocolate are wildly popular in beer right now. Goose Island has taken notice and looks to be adding pastry inspired additions to their famed Bourbon Country Brand Series.

Ed Note: Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Neopolitan Stout is a fake. The brewery created fake labels ahead of the official BCBS announcement.

The original story below from July 10th, 2018.

First get familiar with the term “pastry stout”. The beer industry is full of them these days. Take a simple imperial stout.- and throw in ingredients you’d find in a scone, brownie, cookie, or cake. Pastry stouts now have vanilla beans, cinnamon, cacao nibs, coconut, lactose, even breakfast cereal or movie theater candy. Not to mention aged various spirits barrels. They are basically alcoholic desserts.

Chicago’s Goose Island is home to one of the most well-known barrel-aged imperial stouts – Bourbon County. Over the years, Coffee, Vanilla, and berry editions have surfaced. Goose Island hasn’t turned a blind eye to the success of the (using this term loosely) “style” and is potentially bringing their own pastries to the table.

It’s officially Black Friday. That means Goose Island Bourbon County 2016 (and its variants) are hitting shelves. The release has become a bit of a Black Friday drunken tradition.

Honestly, Bourbon County has a bit of a storied history. For years now, it has been one of the most sought after barrel aged imperial stouts in America. Then one day over five years ago now, the beer drinking public woke up to the news of Anheuser-Busch purchasing the brewery.

Honestly, we can recall videos of Goose Island fans pouring Bourbon County Brand Stout down the drain after the news. Still weird even today, considering all those drainpours were BCBS that were brewed pre-buyout, and have a suggested cellar life of up to 5 years. Hey, you deal with your emotions how you want to.

Fast-forward to the Black Friday release the following year. The lines were long. Social media was full of delighted drinkers. See – life DOES go on.

In October, Beer Street Journal got to try this year’s release. Let’s cut to the chase. It’s fantastic. A chewy, chocolatey, bottle of bourbon and molasses that will get you tipsy faster than a Dave Matthews jam solo. A year in bourbon barrels does some magical things to this beer.

Something else I’ve noticed when the above picture was posted to Instagram a few weeks ago. Commenters were trying to convince us this beer is infected. Sorry to break the hearts of those wanting Goose Island to be swallowed into the pits of hell. It’s not. From what we can tell, none of the variants are either. (Yes, four of the six editions had some issues last year.)

For 2016, the brewery has tried out a new “flash” pasteurization process that kills of the microbes (and the yeast) that could hurt your coveted bottle of beer. The term “flash” is key. It’s just heated long enough to kill anything bad, and not damage the flavor.

Here is what we aren’t going to do. We aren’t going to sit here and tell you this beer is terrible when it isn’t. We’ve met some brilliant, hardworking brewers at Goose Island. We report the news, and drink the beers. As many as we can get our hands on. You decide what you like or hate, or will drink or won’t, based on ownership, ideals, brewer’s politics, philosophy, artwork, favorite color, tv show, etc.

There you have it. Today people are shooting one another over parking spaces, toilet paper deals, and tvs. Others got in line early for some bourbon barrel imperial stout. There is a night of drinking ahead of those folks, and hangover tomorrow.

Goose IslandBourbon County Maple Rye Stout will not be a part of the brewery’s Bourbon County Series this year. The brewery will be leaving it to age in barrels longer.

The Bourbon County Series returns on Black Friday each year. In recent years the lineup has expanded with a few new variants. Among those Proprietor’s edition aged in maple syrup bourbon barrels, to be released solely in Chicago. The 2016 lineup will include Bourbon County Stout, Bourbon County Barleywine, and Bourbon County Coffee Stout.

After a few barrel pulls, the brewing team has determined Goose Island Bourbon County Maple Rye Stout won’t be ready for the light of day in 2016. The beer needs more time before considering whether to release it.

This edition features the base imperial stout, aged in both bourbon and rye whiskey barrels with maple syrup, cacao nibs, and chipotle peppers. When and if it will ever be released remains to be seen.

It is important to note, that according to Goose Island the final barrels/blend for Proprietor’s Bourbon County have not been chosen. For now, it seems to be the direction the wind is blowing.

A Scotch whiskey variant is a new spin on this ever-evolving brand extension. Scotch barrels definitely bring a different kind of flavor profile into the mix. Depending on the scotch barrels, the resulting beer could be quite peaty and smoky (Scotch like Lagavulin and Islay). Single malts from producers like Speyside are a lighter, even slightly sweeter flavor.

The Proprietor’s release is designed as gift for the Chicago local and loyal. It’s meant to be a little weird, and fun. Scotch barrels are a new twist.

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